In 2003, according to the pages of history, Mark Zuckerberg created Facemash by hacking into Harvard's online, private collection of student images. Zuckerberg faced expulsion after being charged with violating students' privacy and copyright, among others things.

Zuckerberg, who was allowed to remain a student, quickly learned that it was much easier to ask users for their private information, rather than take it from them. And thus Facebook was born.

Over the years, Facemash evolved into TheFacebook and then just Facebook. Though it began at Harvard, it eventually expanded to the rest of the Ivy League and then many more universities within the United States and Canada. In 2006, the company opened its doors to anyone within the United States.

The central focus of Facebook has remained relatively static over time: each person provided a profile picture, their friends and relationships, and what stuff they liked. Simple, sure, but over time Facebook quickly learned that its "social graph," as Zuckerberg called it, could be a powerful marketing tool to create profiles of users' interests. Injecting ads directly into the news feed didn't go so well, but over time, Facebook has slyly slid advertising back into the stream, and helped third-party sites show more relevant ads to their users, too.

Now, Facebook is poised to expand that graph even further with the Tuesday launch of Graph Search, a new way for Facebook users to find out more about what their friends like, where they've been, and more.

But Graph Search is not the first update to Facebook and it definitely won't be the last. Some changes to the social network have been major; such as the launch of "Timeline," which essentially made Facebook a digital history of your life. Others have been more subtle. Have any crossed the line? Tell us in the comments below, after you review some of the changes Facebook has made to your digital life.

1
TheFacebook

Originally known as Facemash, a version of "Hot or Not" for college students, the site evolved into TheFacebook, where users could comment and share on other students within Harvard University. It then expanded to the other Ivy League universities, and from there to most colleges and universities within the United States.
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2
Facebook Opens to the Public (2006)

In 2006, following the launch of a version designed for high school students, Facebook really scaled, opening up the site to anyone in the U.S. with a valid email address. As you can see, the amount of information the site collected was staggering.
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3
Facebook Launches Business Pages (2007)

Businesses quickly learned that Facebook was an invaluable marketing tool for brands to connect with users. In 2007, Facebook officially launched Facebook Pages, which the company said "are distinct, customized profiles designed for businesses, bands, celebrities and more to represent themselves on Facebook." The change allowed Facebook users to become "fans" of particular pages and subscribe to a brand's updates without having to be approved as a "friend."

4
Facebook Beacon (2007)

In 2007, Facebook unveiled details about Facebook Ads, a program that allowed businesses to craft their own Facebook pages, and allowed users to add company information and updates to their profiles and data feeds. But the real problem was Beacon, or Facebook Insights, which would allow participating companies to receive info on user activity, fan demographics, and performance and trends. It also broadcast online purchases to Facebook newsfeeds, which one consumer group said "ruined Christmas." Disgruntled users won $9.5 million in a class action suit and Facebook ultimately agreed to shut down Beacon.
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5
Facebook Like Button (2009)

The Facebook "Like" button rolled out in 2009, allowing people to simply click a button rather than writing out an entire sentence to comment or show their appreciation for a posted item. The following year, Facebook expanded the offering and let you like a specific comment.

6
Facebook Frictionless Sharing (2011)

Facebook sharing went beyond photos and status updates in 2011. The social network teamed up with a number of music, movie, and content services—like Spotify, Netflix, Pandora, and Yahoo News—to introduce Facebook-integrated apps that share your viewing, reading, and listening activity. Did you listen to Britney Spears on Spotify or read a news story on Yahoo? With the Facebook apps enabled, that information was shared with your friends. The downside, of course, is that you might not want to share everything you do online. Some accused Facebook of ruining sharing. But in an interview with Charlie Rose, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg said this type of sharing is the future of Facebook.

7
Facebook Timeline (2011)

Timeline is, as one might expect by the name, is a chronological, visual story of your life, as Facebook has recorded it (or as you choose to tell it). In late 2011, Facebook unveiled Timeline, which replaced your profile page and Wall. It rolled out slowly, but it represented a completely new look for peoples' Facebook profiles. Photos were more prominent, and it was much easier to go back months and years into a friend's Facebook history - prompting many to make private all those photos from college.

8
Facebook Email Addresses (2012)

Facebook unveiled Facebook.com email addresses in Nov. 2010. But in 2012, Facebook handed out new @facebook.com email addresses to anyone who had not previously signed up for the service. The email address, which looks like a string of numbers and "@facebook.com" at the end until you customize it with your vanity URL, showed up by default on your Facebook page. But around the same time, Facebook said that a bug within the API for certain mobile devices was accidentally synching a user's @facebook.com email address rather than their primary address, prompting a lot of anger and irritation.

About the Author

Mark Hachman Mark joined ExtremeTech in 2001 as the news editor, after rival CMP/United Media decided at the time that online news did not make sense in the new millennium.
Mark stumbled into his career after discovering that writing the great American novel did not pay a monthly salary, and that his other possible career choice, physics, require... See Full Bio

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